Friday, April 12, 2019

5 Reasons the CFL Beat the AAF

Last week the news came down that the AAF had closed down shop.  It had seemed so promising and I admit it was exciting to have some football when nothing else was going on.  Then when the league needed an injection of money, games weren't shown on regular network tv etc, you had to know it wasn't long for this world.  So now we wait for the CFL season to start...  But wait...the CFL is boring you say?  At least that's what Ben Volin thinks according to his article Failures of AAF a Predictable Call.  Well, Ben if there's one thing CFL fans do, it's defend the league they/we love so much so thanks for the apology but no thanks.

These are my 5 reason the CFL beats the AAF (and any league really). 


5.  The CFL doesn't proclaim to be a feeder league for any other league.  The Canadian Football League is it's own league and doesn't try to be anything but.  Yes, players sometimes come to Canada and become well known and then return to play in the NFL but that in no way influences the purpose of the CFL to provide Canadian rules football to it's fans.  If you like high scoring, down to the last second, chew your nails off excitement then the CFL is a league for you.

4.  The CFL is a small league.  Because there's 9 teams (soon to be 10) spread throughout the nation it's easy to form a loyal allegiance.  Many of us are born into fandom.  It was difficult to choose an AAF team to root for and I found myself simply choosing a team based on who had the most ex Roughriders.  NFL fans didn't even give the time of day to AAF so no one there chose a team.  How do you choose a team when the league is brand new and you have less than zero feelings about it?

3.  We were all afraid that the AAF was going to steal CFL talent from under our noses.  That never happened.  It did give some players an opportunity to play who wouldn't have gotten a shot any and otherwise.  Let's remember that CFL players need to be great athletes.  There's not only the Waggle to contend with but a lot of other movement that other leagues do not have.  You have to possess great endurance and skill to be a great CFLer.

2.  The Rouge.  Some people don't like it but it can be used as strategy and I think that is the real essence of the CFL.  There are subtle rules which set the league apart from others and those same rules make the game far more exciting during regulation time and in over time.  The rouge itself can prove to be the difference between winning the game or heading to overtime.  

1.  TSN.  The main reason the CFL is so successful is because of the big TSN deal to broadcast all games bringing the game into our living rooms and hearts.  Even if you are a fan of one team you can watch and follow all league games easily.  You can stream them on the TSN apps and webpages as long as you have a cable subscription.  Because of such a great tv deal, the CFL is visible to anyone who wants to watch it. 

If you liked this blog post you might also enjoy a previous post titled 5 Reasons CFL Trumps NFL.  Need more football in your life?  Don't hesitate to look up ABC Rider Fans on Facebook and join a great bunch of fun loving Rider fans.